Isaiah 61:1

The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has chosen ¹  me. ²  He has commissioned ³  me to encourage ⁴  the poor, to help ⁵  the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners,

Ps 2:6; Ps 22:26; Ps 25:9; Ps 34:18; Ps 45:7; Ps 51:17; Ps 69:32; Ps 102:20; Ps 147:3; Ps 149:4; Isa 11:2-5; Isa 42:1; Isa 42:7; Isa 49:9,24,25; Isa 52:9; Isa 57:15; Isa 59:21; Isa 66:2; Jer 34:8; Da 9:24; Ho 6:1; Zec 9:11,12; Mt 3:16; Mt 5:3-5; Mt 11:5; Lu 4:18,19; Lu 7:22; Joh 1:32,33; Joh 1:41; Joh 3:34; Joh 8:32-36; Ac 4:27; Ac 10:38; Ac 26:18; Ro 6:16-22; Ro 7:23-25; 2Co 7:6; 2Ti 2:25,26; Heb 1:9

¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”